They will send out an email to all their customers in the next days, and then it will take a few weeks or months until they make the switch. Until now, they don't offer an alternative solution for people that need HA (such as HowtoForge - HowtoForge runs on an HA cluster at Hetzner), but they told me that if enough people ask for such a solution they might come up with something.

So I'm asking everyone who currently has a HA setup at Hetzner or is interested in doing it to post here. If we are enough, hopefully we can urge Hetzner to change their minds.

I'm currently relying on a HA setup on 2 servers with Hetzner. I need a HA solution as the non-profit organization I represent has previously had to deal with downtime and has caused them considerable problems. HA solves and prevents these issues for them.

Does anyone know roughly what proportion of hosts allow this type of virtual IP set up? Is it common or rare for it to be allowed?

Also, what is the best way of asking a prospective host if it is possible, to minimise the chances of misunderstanding. It'd be a nightmare to pay for hosting and then find it can't be done when you thought it could.

Does anyone know roughly what proportion of hosts allow this type of virtual IP set up? Is it common or rare for it to be allowed?

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Out of the three hosters I've worked with (Hetzner, 1&1, Strato), only Hetzner allowed it. I guess it's a rare feature.

Dmagnets said:

Also, what is the best way of asking a prospective host if it is possible, to minimise the chances of misunderstanding. It'd be a nightmare to pay for hosting and then find it can't be done when you thought it could.

Thanks for the haproxy tutorial.

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I'd ask if they support HA setups (e.g. with heartbeat or keepalived) where one IP address (the virtual IP address) can be shared by more than one host.

The organisation I work for has been in contact Hetzner about the issue and as a result of that, I have been contacted by Hetzner. They said that they do not yet have a solution in place and do not yet know what, if anything, will be made available. They did want to reassure my organisation that what they would be able to do no matter what the case, is to give me not only a virtual IP but also a virtual MAC that can be moved between the servers with the IP address. This would allow me to continue my HA setup. The only disadvantage is that which ever server is the master will no longer be accessable via it's normal IP while it has the virtual IP. This is only possible for me because I have a crossover cable connecting the two servers which may not be the case with other customers. I would of course prefer a different solution, but I can live with this one.

The only disadvantage is that which ever server is the master will no longer be accessable via it's normal IP while it has the virtual IP.

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This is a huge disadvantage for us because we run multiple Xen VMs per physical host. If I understand this right, only the active loadbalancer VM would be accessible while all other VMs on that machine would be cut off...

This is a huge disadvantage for us because we run multiple Xen VMs per physical host. If I understand this right, only the active loadbalancer VM would be accessible while all other VMs on that machine would be cut off...

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Ah yes. I see what you mean. Perhaps it would be possible to have an extra nic placed in each of your servers. I know it's extra work, and would involve a short amount of downtime, but then you could use one nic for the loadbalancing IP's and the other as the server's main IP. I think you're charged 15Euro/nic once off. Just an idea. If I understood your situation correctly, it should work, no? I realise that this isn't the ideal solution either, but at least you wouldn't be left stranded.